Magic Misled (Lizzie Grace #7) - Keri Arthur Page 0,55

much suggested he and his mom had had words sometime during the day, but as much as curiosity was biting, I resisted the urge to push. And yet I couldn’t help the sliver of guilt; I was the reason for the fracturing of his relationship with his mother, and I could only hope it didn’t become irreparable.

I quietly ate my spaghetti and, after a while, he sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bite.”

“It’s okay—”

“No, it’s not. Not when you—” The sharp ringing of a phone cut off the rest of his words. He groaned, collected the empty bowls, and then walked over to the kitchen counter to answer the call. “Ranger Aiden O’Connor—”

He quickly pulled the phone away from his ear. The person on the other end of the call was speaking both loudly and rapidly. It was a woman, and she was obviously frightened, but I couldn’t understand much more than the occasional word.

“A fucking monster” did catch my attention, however.

I rose, grabbed my coat, and then swung my purse over my shoulder.

“We’ll be there in ten minutes, Mrs. Sanders,” Aiden said. “Make sure the door is locked and keep the kids in one room upstairs.”

“What if this thing breaks in?” she screeched.

“Have you got a gun in the house?”

“Of course—”

“Then keep it handy and use it if necessary.” He hung up and glanced at me. “You want to ring Monty and tell him to meet us at the Sanders farm?”

He gave me the address as we headed out the door. Monty still wasn’t answering the phone, so this time I left a message.

“I don’t suppose Mrs. Sanders described what she saw, other than it being a monster?”

“No. And she’s been prone to exaggeration in the past, especially when her husband is away working.”

“Do you think that’s the case here?”

“Maybe, but she was in the same school as John, Jackson, and Patrick, so we can’t afford to take a risk.”

I shifted to study him. “Is that the only link you’ve found between them all?”

“So far, yes.” He cast me a grim look. “But she wasn’t in the same class, and isn’t friends with them, then or now.”

“How many classes were the three men in together?”

“Two—grade five and six.”

“At least that cuts down the number of people you have to interview.”

“It’s still a monumental task, given half of them no longer live in the reservation. We have to check them all, just in case the two deaths here aren’t the first.”

We sped into the darkness, the red and blue lights giving the trees that lined the road an eerie glow. We weren’t very far out of Argyle when he swung onto a long driveway that swept up to a double-story weatherboard farmhouse. Lights shone brightly across both floors and, on the upper floor, a curtain twitched and a pale face looked out. Mrs. Sanders, no doubt.

Aiden stopped and climbed out. I grabbed my purse and joined him at the front of the truck. The night was cold, but the drifting wind was free from the scent of foulness.

“Anything?” Aiden asked.

I shook my head. “That doesn’t mean anything, though.”

“No.”

He touched my arm, then led the way across to the front door. It opened as we stepped onto the veranda. Mrs. Sanders was short and stout, with curly blonde hair and a pleasant face.

“About time,” she grumbled. “I was about—”

“Has this creature tried to get inside?” Aiden cut in.

“No, but—”

“Where was it headed? Where did you see it?”

“It was over near the stables, heading toward the forest.”

“Meaning it was probably just moving through. Keep inside, keep the doors locked, and we’ll go check.”

“Thank you.” She immediately shut and locked the door.

“This way,” Aiden said.

We moved to the end of the veranda and around the corner of the homestead. A number of buildings came into view—one a large machinery shed and the other a row of four horseboxes. We walked across the graveled driveway and strode toward the boxes. In the nearby paddocks, horses ran about, their tails high and their snorts filling the air. Something had stirred them up. I just hoped that something wasn’t our beastie.

It was a hope that quickly died as we moved past the first horsebox and the acidic scent of magic hung on the air. It was a distant thing, but it nevertheless meant Mrs. Sanders hadn’t imagined her monster.

“It was here,” I said, voice grim.

Aiden’s gaze snapped to mine. “Can you track it?”

I nodded and immediately took the lead, moving past the horseboxes, machinery shed, and